Monday, April 14, 2008

Sweaty Tim

Starting pitcher
JC Parsons

Yesterday was one of the first times this season that I have seen an entire televised game. It was a real pleasure to soak in the beauty of the game and our special park. I know some of you prefer the audio experience, not me. Jon Miller is wonderful (and absent on Sundays) but I crave that visual input. Here are a few "visuals" that are still with me this morning:* Tim needs a haircut. Not very insightful, I know, but it is a visual that won't go away. From the second inning on, he was dripping sweat. His long black hair looked liked he had stuck his head in a bucket each half inning. I was a little worried at first ( I tend to think he is better in cold weather) however that quickly went away. Our boy was nasty. Eleven strikeouts...notice he got one more than Sanchez. Are we competitive??* Bowker's swing is deceiving. Each homer did not look like they were hit hard enough but both were no doubters. His swing is super short and extremely quick. It would look like he would make more contact and have less power. John struck out alot in the minors so we'll see...* Tim has a very predictable pattern. I guess I knew this already but watching it on TV really drove it home. In almost every case, Lincecum got the first two strikes with fastballs - many of which were fouls - then he got strike three with a breaking pitch; change early in the game, curve later. (See NOTE below.) There was a short stretch where the Cards figured that out and got 3 hits on 3 pitches. I can't really remember Tim starting anyone with a breaking ball. It must be nice to have such mean stuff that it's OK if they know what's coming.

NOTE: Chris at BayCityBall (one of my personal favorites) has used the pitch f/x data to analyze Tim's third strike pitches. It turns out I might be having a hard time telling his change and slider apart. According to the data, Tim used his new slider often and effectively. The general observation of heat first, breaking ball for the K was correct though (8 out of 11 times). Worth noting is Tim's great ability to get swing throughs, rather than looking (9 out of 11 times).

3 comments:

I got to see some Bowker highlights, and you are right, he has that deceptive, easy motion. I know he'll go 3-for-27 with 11 K's at some point, but right now he looks like Will Fookin' Clark! JT Snow was very complimentary about him on the radio, esp. his approach with two strikes. I'd like to see both our young aces get OUTS within the first few pitches--no complaining about 11 strikeouts, but the pitch totals mean they'll get yanked after 6 IP. Otherwise, Tim is living up to his billing as The Enchanter.